Marine propulsion



No. 6ll,|8 2. Patented Sept. 20, 1398.

E. w. MITCHELL MARINE PROPULSION.

(Application filed 1m. 16, 1397. ("0 Model.) 2 Sheets-S-heaf L w/r/mINVENTO/P A TTOR/VEYS.

No. 6l|,|82. Patented Sept. 20, I898. E. W. MITCHELL.

MARINE PROPULSION.

(Application filed 1m. 16, law. I (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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W/T/VESSES; IIVVE/VTOI? .Q.@m Edwmd WTJIIZMeZL M By W I r ATTORNEYS.

THE uonms PETERS ca, PdcTuun-m. WASHINGTON, o. c.

NrTED STATE PATENT FFICE.

EDWVARD W. MITCHELL, OF OBERLIN, OHIO.

MARINE PROPULSION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pate t No. 611,182, datedSeptember 20, 1898.

Application filed March 16, 18 9 7.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, EDWARD WELLINGTOMITCHELL, of Oberlin, in the county of L0- rain and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Marine Propulsion, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in marine propulsion, providing a simplenovel construction of reciprocating propeller and devices for operatingthe same; and the invention consists in certain novel constructions andcombinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a top plan view, and Fig. 2 a bottom planview, of a boat provided with my improvements. Fig. 3 is a detailvertical longitudinal section of a part of the boat, and Fig. 4 is adetail perspective view of the propeller.

By my invention I provide one or more reciprocating propellers A,whichslide back and forth along the hull of the boat, and in connection withthe blades of such propellers sup ply means whereby they may be reversedto act operatively in a reverse direction, sothe propeller may beutilized in stopping the boat and in moving it stern foremost. On thehull I provide tracks or ways O for the propeller or propellers A, whichmay be duplicated, as shown, so the description of one of suchpropellerssay the middle one-'and of the de-- vices for operating thesame will suffice for the description of all. In the construction shownI supply a middle propeller and two side propellers, the area of thelatter two equaling that of the middle one, and they operatingreciprocally with the middle propeller, so the movements of the boatwill be smooth and easy and all sudden jars and shocks will be avoided.

I will now proceed to describe one of the propellers A, which may besaid to have a carriage D, sliding in the Ways O, the blade E, pivotedto the carriage D, braces or guys F F for the sliding plate, and asupport G for such guys F F, which support slides with respect to thepivot of the blade, together with means whereby the said support may bemoved in one direction or the other, such means preferably consisting,as shown, of a journaled drum H, having a pinion h meshing a rack g onthe support Or, so the turning Serial No. 627,804. (No model.)

of drum H in one direction or the other will correspondingly move thesupport G. The guys F F, connecting the blade with the support G, arealternately slacked or tightened by the movement of the support G in onedirection or the other. Thus if the support G be moved forward towardthe bow of the boat the guys F will be slack and the guys F taut, so thepropeller-blade will act operatively when moved forward and folded whenmoved sternward,so the propeller would serve to back the boat. If, onthe other hand, the support G be moved sternward, the guys F will beslack and the guys F taut, so the blade will propel the boat forward assuch blade moves sternward and will fold as it moves toward the bow.

To operate the drum in a simple manner, I connect therewith the ends I Iof the cable, which reciprocates the propeller, said ends I I leadingthe former forward and the latter back and passing over pulleys i 1) tothe operating mechanism. The cable ends I I are wound on the drum inopposite directions, so one can only turn the drum by winding on thesame the other end of the cable to the same extent to which the firstend is wound ofi in turning the drum, and in effecting such result Iprovide a cable-adjusting mechanism, which will be presently describedin detail, which takes up the cable in such manner as to slacken one endand draw up the other end to turn the drum in one direction or the otherto effect the adjustment of the support, as described. Thiscable-adjusting mechanism may be an ordinary capstan J, around which thecable is wound, such capstan being arranged to be turned in the usualmanner and having a common detent j, by which it may be held in anyposition to which it may be turned. This capstan serves toenable theready reversal of the propeller by setting the blade to act operativelyon the forward or backward movement of the same.

To operate the propeller back and forth, I provide a reciprocatingoperating device connected with the cable and serving to draw the sameback and forth to reciprocate the propeller. This reciprocatingoperating device may be a piston K, operating in a cylin der L anddriven by steam or other power and connected with the cable in suchmanner as to operate it as desired. In the construction shown and aspreferred I provide the reciprocating operating device K with a seriesof guide pulleys 7c, and also provide pulleyblocks M and M, around whosepulleys the cable leads to the propeller, so the movement of theoperating device back and forth may be multiplied or increased in itstransmission to the propeller, thus securing a considerable movement ofthe propeller with but a limited movement of the operating device.Manifestly, as before suggested, the number of the propellers may beincreased, and, where desired, they may be arranged along the sides aswell as upon the bottom of the boat.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A propeller comprising a carriage, a blade pivoted thereto, guyssecured to and leadingin opposite directions from said blade, a movablesupport to which said guys are connected and devices by which to adjustsaid movable support substantially as described.

2. A propeller comprising a carriage, a pivoted blade, a support slidingwith respect to the pivot of the blade, the braces or guys connectingthe blade with the support on opposite sides of the pivot of the bladeand means by which to slide said blade substantially as described.

3. A propeller comprising a pivoted blade, guys or braces leading inopposite directions from the blade, a support to which said braces orguys are connected, such support being movable with respect to the pivotof the blade, a drum geared with the said support and means by which toturn said drum to adjust the support substantially as shown anddescribed.

4. In a propeller the combination with the blade, and the movablesupport by which to reverse said blade, such support having a rack, ofthe drum having a pinion meshing with the rack the cables on said drumand means for operating said cables substantially as shown anddescribed.

5. A propeller substantially as described consisting of the carriage,the blade pivoted to the carriage, the support sliding in said carriageand extending on opposite sides of the blade and provided with a rack,the braces or guys connecting the support with the blade, the drumjournaled to the carriage and havin g a pinion meshing with the rack ofthe support and the cable by which to turn the drum substantially asdescribed.

6. In a propeller the combination with the carriage the blade, anddevices by which the blade may be braced to act operatively in one orthe other direction of the cable for operating said propeller, the endsof such cable bein g connected with the bracing devices of the bladewhereby the same cable may serve to adjust the blade and alsooperatively move the propeller substantially as shown and described.

7. The combination of the pivoted blade,the carriage therefor, means bywhich to adjust the said blade to act operatively in one or the otherdirection such means including a drum, the cable wound at its ends onsaid drum and an adjusting means whereby one of such ends may be woundon and the other correspondingly wound 01f the drum to effect thedesired adjustment of the blade substantially as described.

8. The combination of the sliding carriage, the pivoted blade, thebraces or guys therefor, the supports to which the braces or guys areconnected, the drum geared with said support, the cable wound at itsends on said drum and the capstan on which said cable is wound, andoperating devices connected with said cable for moving the propeller,substantially as described.

9. The apparatus herein described consisting of the reciprocatingpropeller, the reciprocating operating device, the cable connecting saidpropeller and operating device, a plurality of pulleys being provided onthe reciprocatin g device and pulley-blocks having a plurality ofguide-pulleys and arranged between the operating device and thepropeller substantially as shown and described.

10. In an apparatus substantially as described the combination of thereciprocating propeller, the reciprocating operating device,

having at its ends the plurality of pulleys the pulley-blocks adjacentto said ends and having pulleys, the adjusting device, and the ca blesecured at its ends to the propeller, passed about the adjusting deviceand disposed through the pulleys of the blocks and operating devicesubstantially as shown and described.

11. The apparatusherein described consisting of the reciprocatingpropeller, the reciprocating operating device having pulleys, thepulley-blocks adjacent to the ends of the reciprocating device, thecapstan for adjusting the cable, and the cable secured at its ends tothe propeller passed through the pulleyblocks and pulleys of theoperating device and about the capstan substantially as described.

EDWARD W. MITCHELL. IVitnesses:

SOLON C. KEMoN, P. B. TURPIN.

